“Jiyang Immortal Lord asked me to wait here for him, so why did you arrive so late?” Wei Luoheng sized up Xun Ji from head to toe.
Xun Ji gave a light cough. “Some matters delayed me.”
“Oh? Could it be that you were bitten by bugs in the dungeon? I see that the Immortal Lord seems to have an injury at the corner of his mouth.” Wei Luoheng’s gaze shifted to the other person. “Yunting Lord also has an injury on his lip. Could it be that he was bitten by bugs too?”
Under the moonlight, half of Lu Yun Ting’s face melted into the night, his expression somewhere between a smile and not.
“Lord Luo Heng is so curious. Why not come closer and take a look?”
Wei Luoheng hurriedly waved his hands with a smile. “No need, no need. I was just…”
“Snort!”
An ice-blue arc of light flashed past, and the palm Wei Luoheng had extended was pierced through by the sword blade. His smile froze on his face.
Lu Yun Ting’s gaze turned icy cold as he slowly drew back the Zhenliu Sword, watching fresh red blood spurt from his palm.
“This is a return gift. Is Lord Luo Heng satisfied?”
Wei Luoheng grimaced and looked toward Xun Ji. “Jiyang Immortal Lord, didn’t we agree…”
Xun Ji walked forward with a beaming smile and patted his face. “Kids hold grudges more easily. Lord Luo Heng is magnanimous, so don’t hold it against him.”
Lu Yun Ting grabbed Xun Ji’s hand and carefully wiped it with his sleeve. “Shizun, don’t touch dirty things carelessly.”
Wei Luoheng was furious but knew he was in the wrong first, so he could only silently rummage through his Storage Pouch for hemostatic elixirs.
A Jade Bottle extended from the side. “Lord Luo Heng, take this one. Supreme Grade Flesh Regenerating Pill.”
“Li Hanzhao?” Lu Yun Ting frowned. “Why are you here too?”
Li Hanzhao was decked out in gold and jade from head to toe as he offered the Jade Bottle to Lu Yun Ting again. “Yunting Lord seems to have an injury on his hand too. Have one?”
“I didn’t bring him.” Wei Luoheng met Xun Ji’s questioning gaze and hurriedly waved his hands. “I just arrived here and found him skulking around the barrier. Afraid he might cause trouble, I caught him first.”
“I was just passing by. Why catch me?” Li Hanzhao felt deeply wronged.
Li Hanzhao… Xun Ji sized him up. Skulking around near the Passing Immortal Bridge barrier couldn’t possibly be a coincidence. The original text indeed hadn’t mentioned this person, but there was another who seemed somewhat connected to him.
“What’s your relationship to Li Huiming?” Xun Ji asked directly.
Li Hanzhao’s expression stiffened.
“Li Huiming?” Wei Luoheng pondered for a moment. “This name should belong to the champion of the previous Immortal Alliance Conference ten years ago. From Heguang Sect. Could he be your senior brother?”
Lu Yun Ting seemed to recall something as well. “I heard that the previous champion was Heguang Sect’s most talented individual. After cultivating on the Passing Immortal Bridge for a month, his cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds. Unfortunately, he encountered a vicious beast in a secret realm and perished.”
“Unfortunately perished?” Li Hanzhao’s eyes widened. “It was just an ordinary secret realm. How could Brother not even defeat the low-rank vicious beasts inside? His body clearly had a problem—it started after he came out of the Passing Immortal Bridge!”
Wei Luoheng’s eyes sharpened. “What do you mean by that?”
“Li Huiming was my brother. Ten years ago, at the Immortal Alliance Conference, he won the championship in one go. I was still young then and pestered him to take me into the Passing Immortal Bridge with him. Such rule-breaking behavior was something Brother naturally wouldn’t agree to. He only promised that once he came out of the Passing Immortal Bridge, he’d take me to train in an Instance.” Pain flashed in Li Hanzhao’s eyes. “But I waited a month for him, and instead of him coming to find me, I received news of his death! The Sect Leader said that right after leaving the Passing Immortal Bridge, he entered a secret realm alone to stabilize his cultivation. In his haste for quick success, he suffered backlash and died to a vicious beast, not even leaving a corpse behind!”
Li Hanzhao clenched his fists. “But Brother’s personality was always steady. He couldn’t possibly make such a mistake. He must have been…”
“Murdered.” Xun Ji stated calmly. “Your brother Li Huiming was murdered by someone.”
“Does Jiyang Zhenren know about this?!” After a brief shock, Li Hanzhao couldn’t hide his hatred. “Who was it? Who exactly murdered Brother?”
“You’ll know when you see it with your own eyes.” Xun Ji said, “It’s fortunate you’re here. We can save the time of forcibly breaking the barrier.”
Lu Yun Ting frowned. “Shizun wants to enter the Passing Immortal Bridge barrier? But that’s something explicitly forbidden by the sect…”
Xun Ji glanced at him. “Are you going to stop me?”
Lu Yun Ting gazed at him with dark eyes, then lowered his gaze and unobtrusively took his hand.
“Whatever Shizun needs this disciple to do, just give the order.”
Xun Ji’s lips curved slightly, though it didn’t show on his face. He only said to Li Hanzhao, “If I remember correctly, your Gold Devouring Toad can burrow through the earth?”
Li Hanzhao nodded.
Xun Ji’s gaze swept over the three beside him, then toward the Passing Immortal Bridge, protected by the massive barrier and unknown to outsiders in its true appearance.
“The truth you all seek lies within.”
“Cut open her heart.” Yulan Zhenren’s voice was cold and authoritative.
All the Sect Leaders of the Nine Great Sects were present, except for the late Tian Yan Sect Sect Master Wei Yuan. Their spells continued without pause, jointly controlling a throbbing mass of crimson.
The thing hovered above an unconscious female cultivator, mere inches from her heart.
Qi Xia Fairy slowly walked to Wei Qianqian’s side, her beautiful eyes lowered as she silently regarded the young and pretty face.